Internal combustion engine



Aug. z, 1932.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE A. VANG Filed Sept. 27, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR @MM/f Aug.z,1932. l A, VAN@ 1,s69633 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 27, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. VANG INTERNAL COMBUSTIONU- 4Filed sept. .27, 1.9;29

Aug. 2, 1932. A. vANG INTERNAL coMBUs'TIoN ENGINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 27, 1929 "INVENTOR `y Patented Aug. 2, 1932 starren' STATES PATENT' einer Amann vANe,OFDNTROIT,1vIIoIIIeAN,AssIGNOn, BYnnsNE `ASSIGNMENTS,To MOTOR Y n DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, A CORPORATION-,OF MICHIGAN INTERNAL ooMBUsTION VENGINE Appiication mea september 27; 1929. serial No. 395,673.-

This invention relates to an internal combustion engine 'and particularly to an internaly combustion engine that is adapted for use in airplanes. f

It is a well known fact that one of the'great desideratums for an airplane engine is de pendability of performance. It is one of theobjects of this invention to produce an air-V n plane engine that is not only efficient in ac-v 10 tion, but that is dependable in opera-tion, and

this has been achieved by constructing the engine out of a minimum of parts.V It is obvious that the fewer the parts in an engine,

A. the less chance there is'for an engine breaking n down while in operation. Y y p To achieve this dependability of performance there has been produced an4 internal combustion engine using slide valves.V Itis appreciated that internal combustionengines defects in the slide valve type ofengine have preventedA it from'becoming extensive'lyused. One of the defectsin the slide valvetype Vof 2b engine has been that the valves warp, owing to expansion caused by the heat `of combustion and this results in excessive r`'friction between the slide valve anditsguide and also in the loss of compression. `rTo eliminate this 3U warping, itis the object of this invention to produce a slide valve of the plate type provided with at least one longitudinal strengths eningrib. Y Y Y Y Another defect 1n the slide valve motor has been the loss of compression owing tothe inefliciency of the means used for sealing the area immediately adjacent the cylinder ports.

lt is the furfhe'r Object of this inventionto 40 a nature that a substantially airtight seal utilizing slide valves are not broadlynew, and it is equally well appreciated that various produce a compression sealing means ofsuch'k tween the inner facefof the slide valve andthe guide face Vvadjacent the cylinder, wall and yet at the same ktime. to feed thissurfaoe by means of oil `conduits positioned in the coolest, i. e., the outer surface of the-valve which effectively prevents the overheatinglor destruction of the oil which is used to effect the aforesaid lm of lubricant- It is appreciated thatduring the compres` sion and explosion following ignition of the compressed gasesthat'the slide valve is subs jected to great pressure. Owing to this great pressure towhich. the valve is subjected 'at this time, it has been found that any movement of the valve while subjected to this pressure will Icausethe lubricant to burn and gum uptheguide surface lofthe valve andV guide,

which Lrenders the engine'veryineiiicient and practically inoperative'. .To obviatethis-difli-i cultyitis the object lof this invention to pros4 duceV an 4internal :combustion engine: of Athe slide' valve type in which the slidevalve-"remains lstationary during the compressionand power Vstroles of the piston, therefore' gum# ming up or destruction-of the valve lubricant is obviated( Other objects will appear as the descriptionV proceeds; In the drawings:

1 verticall section through rthe engine. Y

Fig. 2 is a'longitudinal verticalfsectzion through theengine. f Y

Fig. side elevation showing the locaion of the pressure tank and'lubrioantfeed Ines.

' lfFig.` tis an relevationthe compressionf` plate.

v l Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the slide valve. .cF ig. 7 is aside elevation of the slide valve'. Fig. 8 is atop elevation ofthe slidevalve. l Fig. ,9, is a bottom plan. view yof the slide valve push` rod guide and slide valve guide closing member..y

Fig.f10 is asectionvalong the line vof Fig. 9.`

f Fig. 11 .is an elevation ofthe positive" for causing the slide valve to alternatelymove and,A remain stationary.

,.Fig. 5V is a section along line 5-'5 of Fig. 4.-

Fig. 12 is a section along the line 12--12 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is an exaggerated view showing the clearance between the valve and the valve guide and the cover plate.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which there is shown for purposes of description a two-cylinder engine, although it is understood that the engine may be of any yspecified number of cylinders, the cylinders are generally designated 1. The cylinder consists of a base portion 2 and a cylinder head 3 which is arranged to be threaded or otherwise suitably secured tothev base 2 as at 4. p

The cylinder 1 is provided with a suitable piston 5 which is connected to the crank shaft 6 by a suitable connecting rod 7. A suitable crank case 8 is secured to the cylinders 1 by any suitable means such as the bolts 9.

Inasmuch as the cylinders are similar in all respects, the description will be limited to oneV ofthe cylinders and will be equally lapplicable tozthe remaining cylinders. The cylinder .1 and the cylinder head 3 are arranged to be air cooled and to better effect this kvair cooling, are provided with the fins 10'.

- The head 8 is preferably an integral casting and comprises the cylinder portion 11 (Fig. 1) provided with the intake port 12, the exhaust port 13 and also the two slide valve guide portions generally designated ,14 and 15. Inasmuch'as the slide valve Ygnide portions 14 and 15 are identical, the description will be directed to oneof the slide valve guide portions and will 'be .considered as equally applicable to the other-slide valve guide. The slide valve Guide is provided witha suitable cover member 16 which is secured to the guide by any suitable means such as bolts 17. Y i

In Fig. 3 the 'valve guides areshown at the left with the cover 16 in position, and at the right with the guide cover removed. It will be seen that the valve 'guide A14 is provided with suitable longitudinal grooves V18 and with a recessed portion 19. The recessedY portion 19 is provided with a plurality of endless grooves 2O which surround the exhaust port 13. The recessed portion 19 is arranged to receive acompression plate 25 (Fig. Ll-) which is here 'shown as being rectangular and provided with an opening 29 Awhich is co-e'xtensive with the exhaust port 13. The compression plate 25 is provided with a plurality of endless raised ribs 26 which surround the opening 29. The plate is arranged to be seated in the `compression plate seat 19 so that the4 projected ribs 26 slidably engage and nicely fit within the endless grooves 2O and in this position the opening 29 coincides with the exhaust port 13. rThe projected ribs 26 are arranged to have Ya very limited clearance in the endless grooves in which they slidably lit and in conjunction with the very thin film of lubricant provide a substantially gas-tight seal between the eX- hause port 13 and the surface area of the slide valve guide 14 immediately surrounding the exhaust zport.

Owing to the heat created by the machining of the metal from which the slide valve is fabricated and owing to the heat of com-A "bastion7 the slide valves heretofore used have warped and become ineffective. rllo overcome this defect there is here provided a slide valve dwhich issubsta-ntially lJ-shaped in cross section (FigfS) and consists of the flat surface portion 31 and the longitudinal flanges 32 Awhich re-enforce the valve and prevent warping.V The valve 230- is provided with a port 33 co-extensive in size with the cross sectional area of theexhaust port 13. VThe valve 30 is arranged to be assembled in slidable relation upon the valve guide 14 with the flanges 32 projected inwardly toward the inside of the cylinder and slidably engaging the guide 14 in the longitudinal grooves 18. It will be'noted that the inner face 33 of the valve slidably engages the outer face 3s*- of the compression plate but a very small clearance as at 35 permits a sloppy fit.

The front face 37 of the valve 30 is provided'on each side with the grooves'S which extend vertically downward approximately intermediate Vthe length of the valve and then extend laterallyinwardly and downwardly as yat 39. Y ln substantially equidistantly spacedrelations are the holes il0 projecting from the bottom of the grooves 39 inwardly and completely through the slide valve 3G.

rl`he slide valve is arranged to reciprocate upwardlyand downwardly upon the guide lll, and to this end is provided with a push rod 80. Tlie'push lrod 8O projects through and slidably engages the closure plate 41 which closes the valve chamber l2 which is formed cooperatively by the recesses in the lower portions of the valve guideY coi 1i 16 and valve guide 14. The end of the push. rod 8O which projects t-.rough the closure plate Ll1 has a recessed fit as at with 'the lower end of the valve and is secured theret by the screw 44.

The lower end of the push rod 80 is arranged to beguided by a suitable guide l5 and carries at the lower end a roller 16 mounted upon the pin 47.

The cam member is shown in detail in 11 and may be generally designated 50. The cam is arranged to be mounted upon a able cam shaft 51, and is provided with periplieral flange 52 and a flange 53 concert .viththe flange 52 and positioned inwardly from the flange 52. The flanges 52 and constitute a race for the roller e6. As stated above the cam member is arranged to maintain vtheslide valve in stationary position durthe cam shaft.

ingv the compression and power strokes of the piston,l and to achieve this the cam has a definite predetermined coniiguration. The center oit' rotation may be designated" 54 and as viewed in Figure 11 the flanges v53 and 52 below the line ft-A are a. true circuit concentric with, and having Vthe point 54 as a center of rotation. Vrlhe flanges 52 and 53 are symmetrical and considering54 the center or rotation, the radius of the flanges 52 and 53 gradually increase from the line A-A upwardly till they achieve their greatest length at the top or" the cam which may be designated B. The difference in length'be tween the radii 54-A and 54`-'-B is arranged to be not less than the height of the exhaust port 13 and is preferably slightly greater than the height of the exhaust port 13 to permit the valve to overlap the cylinder ports when closed.

. The cam shaft 51 has aredu'ct-ion gear con- Vnection with the crank shaftg6 of a two to one ratio; that is, the crank shaft makes two complete revolutions to eachV single revolution ot The' 'cylinder head 3 has mounted therein a suitable spark plug 56 located in the uppermost portion of the cylinder head. Any well known timing device may be used to properlytime the sparking ofthe'.

` synchronizedwith the cams so that the fire and the resultant explosion occurs while the Y roller 46 is upon that part of its course below the line A A, that' is, while the roller 46 travels the course A-A the valve' remains closed and stationary. Y 1 n rlhe engine is arranged to be yfed by force or pressure feed lubrication and to this end the slidevalves are used in conjunction with their guides-and associated parts as pumps. The guides 14 in conjunction with the cover plate 16 'form a chamber 60 above the slide valve 30 1). The cover plate 16 is mounted upon the guide 14 with a gas tight seal and the upper endo-t the cover plate 16' Vis provided with an intake port 61 `and an sure tank 66 by means of the feed line 67 and exhaust'line 68. The pressure tank 66 is provided with a suitable reliei:l valve 69V which is arranged to exhaust the pressure inV the oil tank 66 over theamount of pressure desirable in the tank. It will be readily seen that the slide valve -30 4serves as a plunger arranged to drawin the lubricant from thetank 66 through the feedA line 67 and check valve 61 intothe chamber 60 on the downstrok-e. Upon 'the' upward stroke of valve 30y any lsurplus oilk or air is discharged through the exhaust port l62 and associated oil line 68 which conveys itibackto the pressure tank 66. lt is understood that the size of the int-ake'port 61 and exhaust port 62 can be. adjusted to admit and exhaust any desirable amount of oil during operation.

Since the compression plate 25 can move outwardly and inwardly without decreasing its sealing effect, it is possible to permit the slidevalves to have a sloppy fit in the guides and this prevents'any gumming up of the guides and valves by the lubricant. This sloppy fit or" the slid-e valve 3() has been nicely broughtl outin the exaggerated view (Fig. 13). It `will be" seen that the opening be?.

tween the valve guide 14`aiidthe cover plate 16'is suiiiciently greater thanthe thickness of the valve 30 to permit the clearance'O.vl

This clearance is preferably in the` neighborhoodof .O of an inch although it can 'be increased. or decreased and yetan effective' seal be maintain'edfbetweenthe valve and the ycompression plate lto in turnseal the port 13. The pointis that the clearance 7() can not be decreasedV vsufficiently to effectively prevent loss of compression without causing the oil to gum and the valve to stick in the valveguide, hence, owing to the sealing-action of the compression plate 25, this sloppy lit vor large clearancevof Vthe valve in the valve guidesis permissible to obviate gumniing of the oil and sticking of the valve without loss of, compression which would obviouslyoccur if the compression plate 25 werel omitted. A

In operation during thelcompression and the explosion of the gases in the lcombustion chamber the compression plates V25 will be forced outwardly and tightly against the slide valve 30. Y This in conjunction withk the thin film of oil between the compression plate 25 Aaiid the valve 30 will eEect a gas tight seal between-the two contacting surfaces. When the compressionv plate '25 is forcedslightly outward the endless ribs 26 move slightly outwardly in the endless grooves 20, but still maintain their gastiglit contact withk the sides of the grooves 20. The endless grooves 2() and ribs 26 are provided with a very thin film of oil which further insures against' loss of gas or compression. g K

By referring to Fig. 7 it will be seen that 'the valve 30 has its uppery edge chamfered as at 70, hence, uponv the oil being pumped into the chamber it flows over the chamiered edge ZO and downwardly along the grooves 38 and then laterally vinwardly and downwardly in the grooves 39 from whence lic l are `on the outside face 0f the valve 8O maintains the oil adjacent the cooling fins and the cooling surface of the engine until it has passed through holes 40. This tends to prevent destruction of the oil by overheating.V

lt will be noted that the slide valve guide portion 40 is angularly displaced relative to the cylinder l so that its only areaof contact with the cylinder l is immediately adjacent the cylinder port 13. This angular arrange' ment permits the slide valve and guide and associated parts to be substantially coinpletely surrounded by air for cooling-*purposes.

It will be noted that the exhaust port 18 is positioned above the intake port 12. The configuration of the cylinderhead is such that in cross-section the approximate half of the cylinder head adjacent the exhaust port is concave and the approximate half adjacent the intake port'is convex when viewed from the inside of the cylinder. This curvature of the cylinder head creates a'turbulence of the gases during the compression stroke of the piston and firing of the gases which causes a uniform and-more eficient combustion.

The pistonA is arranged to have a surface that in cross-section is substantially parallel to that of the cylinder head. location of the spark plug 56 at the highest point in the combustion chamber the gases are ignited adjacent the Vhigher area of the piston surface and consequently as ignited effect a rolling or oblique blow upon the-piston rather than a vertical blow. This lrolling blow of the gases upon thev piston tends to give a smoother running and less vibratory engine..

I claim:

l. ln an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber and a port therefor, the combination of a guide having an opening therein substantially coincident with the said port, a valve arranged to slidably en; gage the said guide with a sloppy lit for opening and closino the said port, a cover plate secured vto the Vsaid guide surface for the said slide valve, and a compression plate 4directly engaging the said valve having an opening therein substantially coincident with the port and an endless ridge extending around the said opening, the said guide surface having a complementary groove about the said opening., the said endless ridge of the compression plate arranged to have a sliding engagement with the groove in the said guide, whereby the compression plate can move outwardljT during the compression and power strokes to effect a substantially air tight seal between the cylinder port and the said slide valve. y y

2. In an internal 'combustion engine having acombustion chamber anda port therefor, the combination of a slide valve arranged @wing to thev to be actuated to open and close said port, a guide for said valve having an endless groove surrounding said port, the valve having a sloppy lit with the said guide, and a single sealing means surrounding said port having an endless ridge to slidably engage in said groove and a surface slidably engaging said valve whereby the valve. is sealed against compression loss.

'3. ln an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber and a port therefor7 the combination of a flat slide valve arranged to be actuated to open and close said port, a fiat guide for said valve having an endless groove surrounding said port, the fiat valve having a sloppy fit with the said flat guide7 and a single sealing means surrounding said port having an endless ridge to slidably engage in said groove and a surface slidably engaging said valve whereby the valve is sealed against compression loss.

4l. ln an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber and a port therefor, the combination of a slide valve arranged to be actuated to open and close said port, a guide surface for said valve having an endless groove around said port, a cover for said guide surface, the said valve arranged to have a sloppy fit between said cover and guide surface, a plate 'having an opening therethrough and an endless ridge arranged to engage in said groove and a surface arranged to slidably engage said slide valve with a lap t whereby the said plate adheres to said slide valve and effects a gas tight seal about said port.

5. In an internal combustion enginehaving a combustion chamber and a port therefor, the combination of a iiat slide valve arranged 'to be actuated to open and close said port, a guide including a flat surface for said valve having a recess with an endless groove extending. around said port, the said valve having a sloppy fit with said guide, and a flat plate having an endless ridge arranged to slidably lit in said rec-ess with said ridge slidably engaging in said groove and a flat surface having a lap fit with said valve whereby said plate adheres to said valve and effects a gas tight seat about said port.

6. In an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber and a port therefor, the-combination of a vreciprocating slide valve for opening and closing the said port, a guide for the said valve having an endless groove surrounding the said port, the valve having a sloppy fit with the said guide, and sealing means for surrounding the said port in slidable engagement with the said valve and having a portion disposed in the said groove, the said sealing means being freely movable inwardly and outwardly in the said groove during the intake and compression strokes of the piston. l

7. In an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber and a port therefor, the .combination of a reciprocating slide valve for-opening and closing the said port, v 4 a guide for the said valve having an endless groove surrounding the said port, the Valve having a sloppy fit with the said guide, and a plate having an endless ridge for sealing the valve against compression loss, the said plate yieldably engaging the said valve and the endless ridge having a freely sliding engagement inwardly and outwardly with the endless groove during the intake and Y compression strokes of the said piston.

8. In an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber and a port therefor, the combination of a slide valve arranged to be actuatedk toopen and close the'said port7 a guide for the said valve Vhaving an endless groove surrounding the said port, the 20 said valve having a sloppy lit with and adapted to directly engage the said guide, and sealing means comprising a plate having a flat surface slidably engaging said valve and an opening substantially coincident with 25 the port, and an integral ring adapted to slidably engage in the said endless groove surrounding the said port whereby the valve is sealed against compression loss.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature. 3e ALFRED VANG. 

